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Insights

Resources for building lessons and ethics guidelines

Use these short resources to build lessons, ethics guidelines Forum status of student mediaIf you’re developing a new policy, the Scholastic Press Rights Committee recommends using language something like this: [Name of publication] is a designated public forum for student expression. Student editors make all content decisions without prior review from school officials. Prior review…

Ethical scenarios

Scenario 1: Several in the sophomore class have asked the photo editors to remove their braces in their yearbook photo. The photo editor has asked the editor for advice. What are some of the consideration points to consider as journalists? What should the editor’s advice be? Is this a legal or ethical consideration? Directions for…

Rubric for legal and ethical scenarios

Exceeds Standards At Standards Below Standards Discussion board participation Student interacted with others concerning the topic a minimum of two times Student interacted with others concerning the topic a minimum of two times Student didn’t interact with others in the collaboration stage Reasons for decision Student robustly showed their reasoning on how and why the…

Insights

Cutting through the ‘New Normal’ of COVID-19

by John Bowen, MJE As the hours turn into days and the days turn into weeks, the amount of information piles up next to the growing stack of conflicting ideas and ways to deal with COVID-19. Will Chloroquine be the right type of medicine? How much time should people stay in homes? When, or if,…

Insights

School buildings close due to COVID-19 and yearbook deadlines loom

by Susan McNulty, CJE The Stampede and The Hoofbeat adviser J.W. Mitchell High School, Trinity, Florida What a shock when COVID-19 escalated quickly from a virus in China to a threat that brought about a near total shutdown of life as we know it. And what is a yearbook adviser to do, when empty pages…

Insights

Intense times require intense journalists: Best practices for reporting on COVID-19

by Stan Zoller, MJE The COVID-19 pandemic that is gripping the country, let alone the world, has had this simple impact on journalists – intense times require intense journalism. And that starts with all journalists and journalism educators. We’ve seen issues that have impacted students including school shootings and concussions in student athletes to name just a…

Insights

An activity for a dose of skepticism

by Lindsay Coppens, The Harbinger, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, Mass. Scholastic journalists, like all journalists, need to be skeptical. Not only of news they read and of sources they interview, but of themselves. Journalists should question everything, including each other. If student journalists aren’t willing to take a hard look with a discerning eye…

Insights

Reporting controversy, issues student journalists can tell best

by John Bowen, MJE The above statement is a good reminder in 2020 of our social responsibility to report all aspects of teen issues – those with good, bad and impact – because our audiences have a right to know. These are stories student journalists can tell best. As journalists we do not actively protest,…

Insights

When students decide what is newsworthy

by Susan McNulty, CJE The Stampede and The Hoofbeat adviser J.W. Mitchell High School, Trinity, Florida Yesterday, my newspaper staff distributed the February issue of The Hoofbeat to the 2000+ students at our school. According to the staff, the issue was well received by the student body, based on the most reliable measure of teenage…

Insights

SNO has a nice post on rules for using photos you find online. Check it out.

I was reading SNO’s e-newsletter The SNO Report last week and came upon this nice guide for staffs. There’s a misconception by many that all photos online can be used if you site the source. Some pull photos from their local newspaper while others attribute photos they are using to “Courtesy of Google.” Unless you…

Insights

Yes Virginia, journalism still exists

by Stan Zoller, MJE More than a few years ago, I saw a sign on a colleague’s desk that read: “Tact: Being able to tell someone where to go in such a way that they actually look forward to the trip.” Heeding that advice, I’ve become a hell of a travel agent. Case in point. I…

Insights

Silently, heavily, even if optional, prior review and restraint contribute to a crumbling democracy

by Lindsay Coppens The Harbinger adviser, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, Mass. A few weeks ago there was widespread reaction when news broke that the National Archives in Washington D.C. had blurred anti-Trump protest signs in a photograph from the 2017 Women’s March. Yesterday, The Washington Post reported a similar mural-sized image had been…